Comments
With the forecast of El Nino developing, an expert warned on Wednesday that it may impact oilseeds production in India and urged the Centre to step up imports in 2014-15 to meet the emerging situation.
If the oilseed crop gets affected due to poor monsoon rains, import of edible oil will surge. In all of three El Nino years in the last decade, deficient rainfall has impacted the oilseeds production and thereby vegetable oil imports and oilmeal exports, Raju Choksi, Vice-President (Agri-Commodities), Anil Nutrients Ltd, said here.
El Nino adversely affects rainfall and leads to drier conditions in India, South East Asia and Eastern Australia and wetter conditions in South America and southern USA.
Production likely to be hit
Production of four major rainfed oilseeds, viz. groundnut, soyabean, sesame and castor is susceptible to El Nino as even minor variation in rainfall deviates the arability of these crops. With production likely to be impacted, oilmeal exports may also get affected, he said.
“If rainfall this year is lower than 90 per cent of long-range forecast, these crops are likely to be affected adversely. However, distribution and regular spells have a greater bearing on oilseed crops than the absolute quantum of rainfall. The demand-supply mismatch during peak season could also bring in unwanted volatility in price of these oilseeds across major markets.”
Choksi pointed out that in case of a major El Nino developing, oilseeds production in India and palm oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia will take a hit. However, wetter conditions in South America and the USA may prove beneficial to the soyabean crops in these countries.
As per data available from Indian Meteorological Department, in 2004 and 2009, the country faced severe drought as the monsoon was below normal by 13 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. During both years, oilseeds production was down and consequently vegetable oil imports and oilmeal exports too were affected.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.